The Legend of Zelda 25th Anniversary Symphony Experience

Three awesome moments and three missed opportunities from Nintendo's new concert series.

The Legend of Zelda series is almost synonymous with music; from Link's Awakening onward, each Zelda game centers around an instrument of some sort, each equipped with its own set of magical melodies. So it's only natural that Nintendo celebrate Zelda's 25th anniversary with a tribute to the music that's been firmly lodged in our skulls since 1986. While Mario celebrated his 25th alone, with a glorified Virtual Console game serving as the only reward for decades of dependable service, Link's proud parents decided to rectify this transgression by sending a full orchestra on a nationwide tour to pay respect to the many memorable Zelda songs penned by Koji Kondo and others.

I had the chance to attend this series' second concert in Los Angeles this past Friday, and walked away mostly satisfied -- hey, I've been with Link since the very beginning, so my standards might be a bit lofty. What follows is an account of the performance's high and low points, though keep in mind we are extremely lucky to live in a world where something like the Zelda Symphony can actually exist.

Three Awesome Moments

The Wind Waker Symphonic Movement

The Wind Waker is really only notable for one thing: making the Internet go absolutely bonkers 10 years ago. I kid, I kid; if anything, Link's first GameCube outing is best known for its cel-shaded graphical style, one that Nintendo only employs for portable Zeldas these days. But for the most part, The Wind Waker's music isn't remembered fondly (or at all), which is downright shameful; the game may mark Koji Kondo's departure as the sole Zelda composer, but Kenta Nagata, Hajime Wakai, and Toru Minegishi certainly helped round out a solid soundtrack.

The Zelda Symphony played a medley of Wind Waker tunes, which really helped display the amount of bounciness and life within these pieces (obviously tailored to Link's new cartoony world). Audience members giggled at the frumpy starting bass notes of Outset Island, though this snickering soon turned to quiet awe as the orchestra scored the final moments of Ganon -- with the help of game footage playing on a giant screen behind them -- in one of the most memorable final boss fights of all time. The Wind Waker might have been controversial in its day, but it's safe to say the game has outgrown its black sheep status.

The Ocarina Melody Suite

The ocarina melodies from Ocarina of Timeneeded to be memorable; after all, the game expects us to recall the specific notes of eight different songs, regardless of our musical training or the capacity of our puny human minds. Still, all these years later, I'd wager that the majority of Zelda fans could easily replicate Zelda's Lullaby or Epona's Song if given an N64 controller. Since these little collections of notes aren't really long enough to be performed as stand-alone pieces, conductor Eimear Noone instead decided to use the ocarina melodies to introduce the various sections of the orchestra. As in the game, these short bursts of music are meant to be functional more than anything -- and that's the exact purpose they served here. Thankfully, the playing of the Sun's Song did not turn night into day; sure, that would have been newsworthy feat, but some of us had planes to catch in the morning.

Koji Kondo's Surprise Appearance

I guess it shouldn't be surprising that Koji Kondo made his way to the stage towards the end of the show; what better way to roll out your concert series in America than having the man himself on display? When he sat down at a piano for his solo performance that night, though, the melody flowing from those keys certainly wasn't what anyone was expecting: Grandma's Theme from The Wind Waker. Instead of playing the sole tune that defines the Zelda series, Kondo chose to perform a lesser-known piece that isn't immediately recognizable, even to fans; this interesting decision led to one of the most interesting moments of the night, as the exuberant crowd shifted their bubbly enthusiasm to a quiet awe in order to make the most of Kondo's subdued ivory-tickling.

Three Missed Opportunities

Notable Oversights

Though the concert clocked in at nearly two hours, it's impossible to cover enough musical moments to make every Zelda fan happy -- like this one, for instance. While I expected Majora's Mask to be dissed, I didn't expect the dissing to be so thorough; the two songs selected from this game made their appearance in a mixture of random Zelda tunes, and they didn't stick along very long. My dream: an orchestral arrangement of the Clock Town theme that covers each day's increasingly frantic arrangement -- though keep in mind I'm one of those weirdoes who holds Majora's Mask near and dear to his heart. Still, the 25th Anniversary Symphony managed to avoid music from Zelda games that aren't as polarizing; nary a note from Zelda II could be heard, and Link's Awakening was equally unloved. Doesn't the Ballad of the Wind Fish deserve the dignity of a full orchestra? My sources say yes.

An Overreliance on Ocarina of Time

Yes, yes, I understand; Ocarina of Time is the most beloved Zelda game of all time; it touched generations of gamers and defined what a 3D action-adventure should be -- by no means should the importance of Ocarina ever be understated. Yet Friday night's concert was just a bit lousy with songs from Link's first N64 adventure. Sure, some of these sounded fantastic; in fact, the symphony's arrangement of Gerudo Valley is the best I've ever heard. But there's only so many times you can hear the same songs over and over again without growing bored, regardless of the context in which they're performed.

Not Telling the Audience to Kindly Shut Up

I'm going to try and broach this subject gingerly, because it's hard to get angry at a bunch of well-meaning fans who are supremely psyched to be at such an amazing event. But I think that this concert could have benefitted greatly from an announcement along the lines of, "kindly shut up while the music is playing." This message isn't odd to hear before a live performance -- well, a more polite version of it, anyway -- and it helps to let the crowd know that their enthusiasm is appreciated, albeit in distinct intervals. The medleys suffered the most from audience outbursts, as the crowd would erupt whenever they recognized the snippet of the song that just started... which was every single time. Again, it's hard to get mad at people for just enjoying something they love, but I looked down at the price of my ticket during the event, and, honestly, I would have been a little cheesed had I paid for it with my own money, rather than attending as a member of the press.

That said, don't let these minor issues stop you from attending; while the 25th Anniversary Symphony isn't going to meet the needs of every Zelda fan, it's certainly a fitting celebration of all things Zelda -- which, coincidentally, may get you in the mood for next month's Skyward Sword.

Comments (19)

Zelda Concert in Brazil

In Brazil, the Multiplayers group did a concert to celebrate Zeldas 25th Anniversary. Most of the songs mentioned as absent in the official concert, where in the brazilian version. If you want to check it out, visit: http://www.multiplayers.mus.br

Grandma!

Ugh... nerds...

That audience sounds incredibly obnoxious. Shame they were as annoying as they were. Yeah, we get it, you're excited. Now shut up and listen to the music. This isn't a rock show, and it's not Video Games Live with Tommy Tallarico screaming for the audience to start clapping or something.

If you're going to this show, have some respect. Jesus, calm the f*** down.

So Disappointed I didnt get to Go

The Zelda Games were the main reason I really wanted to try to become a video game composer. This was literally a dream come true.Congratulations on being able to see it, hopefully one day I will as well.

Well

that first line in the story isn't actually true, but I'll let it slide. The audience insanity is to be expected, its not a ballet after all lol; its a tribute to video game music, madness comes with the territory. I would hope they weren't as bad as the audience for the Skyrim demo at Quakecon though. They probably skipped games simply because the music isn't immediately recognizable, that would also explain the emphasis on Ocarina of Time.

The lack of proper etiquette...

...is what drives me away from ever attending a videogame music concert. This isn't a bloody Green Day concert, people. It's ostensibly a classy event in a nice venue. Not only should you be holding that noise(clapping) for after a piece is finished, but for God's sake try wearing something a bit nicer. I'm surprised they didn't enforce an "either you're cosplaying or wearing a nice shirt and maybe jacket" dress code. It's about respect for the art, people.

Hm...

I was there, and while I heard whoops when a memorable clip started playing in time to its music, but it subsided before it interrupted majorly or anything. I'm sorry for anyone who was next to people who wouldn't stop talking or shouting randomly; I was in the mezzanine and everyone there was very respectful while the music was playing.

Shame about the audience.

I've had a similar experience with the Final Fantasy Distant Worlds concert when I saw it in San Francisco last year. The program always closes with Terra's Theme, so along with the symphonic performance, they have credits roll on the projector they have. While the names of people who are credited for the performance appear, the audience claps and cheers incessantly as notable names like Nobuo Uematsu and Arnie Roth appear on screen. Not only did this make for an extremely annoying performance, but it gets awkward towards the end when people have no idea who they're clapping for (lesser contributing folks).

:o!

That last one.

Audience etiquette nearly killed it for me. I really didn't mind the outbursts, but yea, they were annoying. The worst was when the group of teenagers behind me started humming along with the symphony. It was still an amazing experience to be at, for sure.

Agreed

My wife and I were in attendance (she surprised me the day of with tickets!), and my biggest gripe is in line with yours. Nerds aren't notorious for social consideration, and someone should have briefed them on symphony conduct. The outbursts (literally several times per song) were extremely frustrating. You just paid money to hear songs you've heard hundreds of times, played in person with real instruments... and you're shouting and clapping over half of it?

We get it. You love the song. We do too. Just clap *afterwards*.

My only other slight complaint was that the percussion and brass were a little off. Honestly, at times the whole orchestra was slightly loose (and somehow restrained). This may have been because they were playing to a click track to sync with the videos of the games. Also, I understand it was their first American show, so they may tighten up by the end of next year's tour dates. If not, it's definitely not the most exemplary musicianship you will witness. Still, very, very worth it for the sheer joy of hearing these songs on real instruments, in person.